Ride-Hailing Startups, Tehran Municipality at Loggerheads Over Taxation

Tehran Municipality intends to charge ride-hailing firms operating in the capital a 2% tax and the startups are fighting the idea tooth and nail.
Mohsen Pourseyyed Aqaei, managing director of TM’s Transportation and Traffic Organization, told reporters earlier last week, “Tehran Municipality has proposed that online taxi firms should pay 2% of each ride’s fare as tax to the municipality.”
He argues that online taxi firms are “using the city [infrastructure] therefore they should pay a tax to the municipality”.
This was the first time TM officials demanded a share of transportation startups’ income. So far, the urban authorities have argued that they merely want “to monitor and regulate activities” of these firms.
In an interview with Financial Tribune, Mohammad Jafar Nanakar, Iran IT Organization’s deputy for legal affairs, and Reza Olfatnasab, spokesman of Iran E-Commerce Union, discussed the proposed tax.